ETIHAD versus Emirates
 

Hi there - I am not a frequent poster as I normally go with the flow. In my case that means EMIRATES wherever they fly or Lufzhansa.
My last EMIRATES flight from Germany to Australia on business wasn't exceptionally GREAT! Two totally different products: one seat was okay (not lie flat!) and the other one wasn't comfortable at all.
Meal service was next to nothing for a decent business class. Lounges were wonderul!.

For the next trip I have decided to try ETIHAD instead. They obviously have real lie flat seats on all airplanes throughout that routing.

Also ETIHAD allows miles pooling for members.

Is there a member which flew ETIHAD recently?
What about their lounges? Similar to EMIRATES?

Thank you for posting your experiences.

i have flown emirates a bunch of times but not recently....on the other hand i regularly flew on a 9w code share etihad flight between del-auh....great service in business class & pretty good lounges at the auh airport....

THX a lot saad!

Flying ETIHAD instead of EMIRATES means a train ride to get to FRA instead flying out of DUS. I hope to sacrifice convenience will pay off by its service and seats.

most of my clients in the uae seem to prefer etihad....they say the sevice & comfort is much better....i have heard their first class lounge is supposed to be excellent but have never used it myself....

I fly Etihad almost weekly. The business class lounge in AUH is fine, but tends to get very crowded.

I've not flown them in business, but economy class is very good. I've flown Emirates in business and if you get a flat bed it's great. But the recliner seats in Emirates business are pretty poor. Economy in Emirates is similar to economy in Etihad.

Etihad:
F lounge in Abu Dhabi is wonderful. Biz lounges nice but as mentioned above is very crowded.
F swivel seats are OK but not great but F suites are really good but not as glitzy as EK. Services standards are better on EY than EK in both F and Biz.
Biz seats on EY widebodies are all flatbeds and very good - IMHO much better than EK because you know what you are going to get. Biz seats on narrow bodies are OK but nothing like on wide bodies - however they are absolutely streets ahead of European and US short haul Biz and F class offerings.

Etihad hands down, the only real thing working against them is their Biz lounge(s) which as stated are far too small.

Another vote for Etihad.

I'm half way through a RTN trip with EY SYD-AUH-AMM-DXB in J.

EK has the glitz and glammour. EY is definately friendlier and more enthusiastic however I cant help but feel there is a little GF going on here. Lots of confusion when things go wrong. Inconsistant info. Also Older A320's are terribly run down. I was on one to AMM today and it was dirty and showing real signs of wear and tear. IFE on this 3 hr
flight abysmal and static so lound during safety video that I dont feel it was legally acceptable. Oh and the pop down screens kept going up and down. It was alet down after a godd flight from SYD-AUH - albeit on the older A346.

Food is excellent and crew seem genuinely friendly.
Enjoy.

I'd agree with most of the above - more reliable hard product on EY, shallower schedule. I've had good and bad service on both, though I've never flown EY longhaul. Both J lounges are nice but both get very crowded, the EK one isn't really relaxing even at the best of times though.

If you have a long layover and can get into the UAE with a visa on arrival, Dubai is much more convenient from its airport (and possibly more interesting for a quick visit) than Abu Dhabi.

I don't like flying EY regionally in Y at all - they have full cabins of transfer pax who have invariably been waiting around for ages and are tired and grumpy, and it seems to keep very weird schedules. On the other hand, there are often real flat beds in J, which makes up (a bit) for a 2am departure...

Another vote for Etihad. Their noise cancelling headphones in economy are great although neither Etihad nor Emirates can match Qatar's excellent legroom in economy.

Have never flown business on Etihad only Emirates.

i feel etihad business is much better than emirates....

Etihad versus Emirates
 

Thank you all very much for your replies!

We are going to fly next week and on return end of Nov I'll report.

I absolutely hate the idea of hanging around in a crowded business class lounge! Anyway - if we have real flat seats from Germany to OZ the change has paid off :).

What puzzles me - not so much personally but from a marketing point of view: How can a CEO allow a rather "new kid on the block" to on one hand outperform in so many ways its peer but then the 320 brings a shadow on to the product.

Thank you also for the tip regarding the DUBAI side trip but frankly - I HATE DUBAI!

Happy landings to you all!

any particular reason????

I've not flown either, but friends who have rate EY over EK.

Sorry to hijack thr thread, but I'm thinking of using EY from SYD-LHR next year in F.. ANyone here know what the SPA hours are in the AUH F lounge? I'd love to use the SPA for a massage or some treatment if possible, but don't know if it's operational at the times I"d be going through.. Can anyone enlighten me?